Slashdot Mirror
Replaced by Outsourcing -- What's a Geek to Do?
SafariShane asks: "Yesterday I was fired from my position as 'Network Security Analyst' from a financial institution. I was pushed out by a 3rd party vendor, who labeled me the major security risk, after performing a 'vulnerability assessment.' At the time, I thought a vulnerability assessment of our network was a good idea, but in retrospect, it occurs to me that this company, who's other product is 'Outsourced Network Monitoring and Intrusion Detection' may pull this little trick everywhere they go. Has this happened to any other network security folks out there. Does anyone know if this is a common practice, and what's a geek to do if they find out a 3rd party assessment is on the way? If this happens again at another institution, should I just start polishing my resume right away?" Here's a question I always wish I could ask managers, whenever the topic of 'outsourcing' comes up: if dealing with programmers overseas is more appealing to the bottom line, why not let your programmers work from home for 50-80% of their current in-office pay? For those of you who feel the threat of Outsourcing breathing down your neck, what are you doing to try and stay in your current job, or even in this current market?
I'll also note, because people will ask me anyway, if there were other problems. In my year on the job, there was only 1 network intrusion: Welchia, which was contained in twenty minutes. Anyone familiar with Welchia will know that it is no easy task. I was never reprimanded for anything. In fact, I received a 12.5% raise only two months ago for job performance.
I doubt what they did was illegal, but it's bad business at best. Here is a group of network security geeks, who get other network security geeks fired, so they can increase their bottom line.
I'd like to hear comments from folks this has happened to, and what did you do as a result?"
"Here comes the obligatory South Park reference:
- Perform Network Vulnerability Assessment
- ?
- Profit! (Sell Outsourced product)
Label anyone who is responsible for network security as the risk, and get them fired.I wouldn't even dream up the above situation, except that when the assessment was done, all results were hidden from me. The company presented the results not to the geeks that can interpret them, but directly to the executives that still think 'Clippy' is a great product.
I'll also note, because people will ask me anyway, if there were other problems. In my year on the job, there was only 1 network intrusion: Welchia, which was contained in twenty minutes. Anyone familiar with Welchia will know that it is no easy task. I was never reprimanded for anything. In fact, I received a 12.5% raise only two months ago for job performance.
I doubt what they did was illegal, but it's bad business at best. Here is a group of network security geeks, who get other network security geeks fired, so they can increase their bottom line.
I'd like to hear comments from folks this has happened to, and what did you do as a result?"
SafariShane needs to turn around and hack back in to the system in a week and show that the new company's security measures weren't that great. ;-) This will ingratiate himself with the CEO and get the new company kicked out.
;-)
Problem solved.
As reported by "America's Finest News Source" this is even happening to Company CEOs!
Now I shall sit back and wait to get modded down by the unemployed, disgruntled Slashdot hive mind, but my position on this issue stands.
A martyr complex and a superiority complex, all in one. Neat.
From the second sentence of the story:
Reading between the lines, it seems that a 3rd party vendor labelled him a major security risk. But I'm just guessing.
Using HTML in email is like putting sound effects on your phone calls. Just say <strong>no</strong>.
This is like the Army Protection Racket sketch from Monty Python. The foreigners come in, "That's a nice network you've got there, Mr. Corporate Executive. It'd be a real shame if someone were to, you know, hack into it, maybe set your building on fire, you know... a real shame..."
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
Basically, what I'm saying here is, quit whining. Make yourself a valuable person and you will find employment. And don't rest on your laurels, either: you have to constantly adapt and pick up new skills.
Wow.. this is some really good advice. If I were any of you, I'd listen to this guy, he really knows what he's talking about..
Now, would you hurry up and fix me my double tall latte??
---
You can get more of what you want with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word.
-- Bumper Sticker
as oppose to surfing /. from the office ;)
No. He should just post the name of the company he was fired from... and they will have legions of crackers breathing down their necks now.
if you're good at your job, get a new one.
Oh well shit, is that all it takes? I've been going about this all wrong!
I'm gonna get a pony too, while I'm out getting things. Anyone else want something?
El riesgo vive siempre!
..and sent to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.
There's a prison where people get to pound you in the ass? Uh.. I'm not touching this one with a 5 foot pole, or any pole let alone any pole I'd have my hands on...
--
"I'm not bright. Big words confuse me. But Wanda loves me and that should be enough for you." - Cosmo
Not only do they have scooby doo in india, but he's much more evil than he is in the united states -- he gives kids tattoos and has got them buying 75 gram packages of "krackjack". We americans have to settle for regular crack.
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
Yeah, the CEO can have you replaced, but you can't replace the CEO. :)
--
"I'm not bright. Big words confuse me. But Wanda loves me and that should be enough for you." - Cosmo
You letting the cert expire on an internal connection is a good indatcator that you shoudl never have been hired in the first place. It is called sabatouge and you can go to jail for it. I hope you enjoy "pound you in ass" prison.
oh ya and don't forget to post you letter to slashdot... to leave no doubt that you are a professional.
Yeah, there's a great idea. I can just see it now:
All techies go to Pharmacy school. That way, when we're up late at night coding for a client, we know how to mix our own Phenylbarbital to keep us awake.
Better yet -- All techies get their RPh, and that way the entire Pharmacy market is flooded. Hey, I'll work for the same $50k/yr as a Pharmacist as I did when I was a Manager of IT. Lower the bar in that industry. Before you know it, your local Walgreens will be outsourcing the Pharmacy to a bunch of $9/hr 'pretty proficient in English' individuals.
Let's take it a step further... All techies become MDs. Heck, after six years of school and internships and rotations, I hear MDs make over $100K/yr! Flood that industry with h4x0r5 so the next time you have a nail stuck in your ass it can be removed by the techieMD who was up all last night working on developing the next DDoS against the RIAA's website. Hrmpf!
Do YOU really want YOUR techie to be a RPh?
I think not.
...having your entire body vigorously rubbed with a cheese grater...
I want a new world. I think this one is broken.
Are other countries daring them to create jobs?
Yah, I hear ya.
And Bush STILL won...pretty amazing.
>I'm just waiting for my moment.
And I'm sure that cheerleader from highschool is suddenly going to realize that, after all these years, she wants you.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
The brain would have thought about this and have already prepared to outsource the kidney functions to the liver.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
Puff.. Either kick someone's ass the first day or be someone's bitch and the jail time will fly by.
Here's a clue. That hot cheerleader from high-school is now 32, has pushed out two kids and packed on 50 lbs -- oh and probably has spend the last 15 years living in a trailer park because the former captain of the football team was too stupid to make anything of himself.
Don't ask me how I know.
Time to find another fantasy.
I wonder if I could start my own "assessment
company", walk into any big business, and
conclude that the CEOs in charge are a security
risk, and needs to be replaced by members of
my own "company", including myself.
Funny, this shit never happens to CEOs or the
other big wigs at the top
i went out and got blade-corrected eyes and a 50 inch tv!
after such a botched surgery, it was all i could comfortably watch!
and i'm STILL a network admin! YAY!
>he went out and got a 32" TV and laser-corrected his eyes.
Wow, amazing!! I've been wanting a 32" TV all my life! Are you Amish or something?
Careful, man. You have to be more specific, you don't want ALL Florida's financial institutions cracked, don't you?
Ah..that explains why nothing gets done in Europe.
>That hot cheerleader from high-school is now 32, has pushed out two kids and packed on 50 lbs -- oh and probably has spend the last 15 years living in a trailer park because the former captain of the football team was too stupid to make anything of himself.
>Time to find another fantasy.
Dude, that IS my fantasy. All I need is to deliver pizza to her and cue the pr0n music!
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
Where were you when Samir Nagonnaworkherenomore was panicing, huh? HUH?!
perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
For those who don't know, this is a line from the movie "Office Space".
If you haven't seen it, you should. It's really a very funny look at office politics and lost jobs.
Unfortunately, for many people, it's not in the comedy section of the video store. It's in the documentary section.
There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
I've been reading /. for 5 years, and I haven't seen Office Space. Then again, I have a girlfriend too.
That's funny because I was going to suggest that the reason for correllation was indeed causation. In other words the slashdotters who did not see Office Space had girlfriends, and therefore were watching some chickflick instead. :)
Yea, I learned that from the spiderman movie, too.
find / -name "*.sig" | xargs rm
I don't know how many times I've said this, but I served eight years in Federal prison and the incidence of rape is much lower than the news media (including /.) would have you believe (at least if you're over forty and not terribly attractive...heh, heh).
Well, thanks for dashing our hopes about the future of the SCO executives.
> Every society strikes a balance between individualism and collectivism.
He he. What a wonderfully pompous post! But I take your point about the social cohesion thing.
If we bring it down to a different level though, I've sometimes wondered whether our CEO has ever woken up in the middle of the night and thought "Shit! I own this company, but the Ops Manager knows the root passwords to ALL our systems... and I don't!"
Maybe I'll show him your post one day if I see him hanging around the server room looking nervous. It might calm him down.
"And the meaning of words; when they cease to function; when will it start worrying you?"
1. Just Wardrive em, create a report and outsource your security skills to them. :)
2. Make it your life long mission to make sure the company doesnt succeed in any way.
3. Send them LOTS OF PORN!
4. Find a new job.
I got bumped out of a job a few months ago decided that if I couldnt beat to join them. I started my own tech firm and consult to small businesses and individuals. Im making more money now than I ever did working for someone. Its suprising how equip, software and hourly rates add up to a lot of money coming in. Good luck, I feel your pain. Rich
I wuold agree with the parent post that reviewing slashdot (though not for five hours as the grandparent post "suggested") on a daily basis is a good thing. That it shows that you are tracking the risks and threats in the environment at large.